


The Dove and The Owl

by heliodor



Series: Caladrius Suite [Concept Mercy AU] [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Apologies, Concept Mercy AU, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 09:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12385767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heliodor/pseuds/heliodor
Summary: Ziegler battles with internalized prejudices as Reyes tricks him into relaxing.





	The Dove and The Owl

**Author's Note:**

> More character study playing around with the Mercy from the concept art.
> 
> [[Click here to read my fake bio for this Concept Mercy](https://heliodorwrites.tumblr.com/post/166449854913/mercy-concept-bio)]

There was a soft knock at Reyes’s door he almost ignored. The last thing he wanted was to have to interact with a shy young recruit who sought for him out of curiosity but had no idea what he did for Overwatch now. Something told Reyes to get up and answer the door anyway.

He briefly considered whether or not he should put on a shirt to make himself decent before he tapped his fist against the sensor that would open the door. Wasn’t his fault somebody snuck into the officer’s wing to visit in the middle of the night.

A very sheepish looking Dr. Ziegler stared at him from the doorway. “Captain Reyes, I’m… Am I interrupting something? I could come back later.”

“Come in,” Reyes said, taking a step back. He tapped the sensor again to close the door when Dr. Ziegler was inside and turned away to grab a t-shirt to throw on after all. If Ziegler was gearing up for another one of his borderline insubordinate dressing-downs, Reyes wanted to be wearing clothes for the ensuing argument.

“I may have misjudged you.”

Reyes froze in the middle of pulling his shirt on over his head and turned sharply. “Excuse me?”

“I said I may have misjudged you,” Ziegler said a little louder, holding his chin high.

_Oh._ Well, in that case…

Reyes crossed the room to kick the chair away from his desk and push it closer to the edge of his bed. “Sit down, Doctor.”

“Gabriel, I—” Ziegler started but shut up abruptly when Reyes pulled an electric kettle out of a drawer and took it to the en-suite bathroom to fill up. When Reyes came back to put it back on its stand and plug it in, Ziegler was standing in the middle of the room.

“Sit down.” Reyes stared Ziegler down until he took the seat offered. “We’ll have some tea and talk about whatever you came here to talk about. I’ve got shortbread cookies if you want one. They’re dipped in chocolate.”

“American chocolate?” Ziegler asked, wrinkling his nose. “No thanks. Not that I don’t appreciate your hospitality, but isn’t this isn’t necessary. I just wanted to apologize for my behavior. After you went back for McCree on your last mission… Genji told me. I—you jeopardized your mission for him.”

“Of course. It was a calculated risk. I don’t leave my people behind, Dr. Ziegler.” Reyes nodded as he casually leaned against his desk to wait for the water to finish boiling.

“It’s not that I didn’t think you would, but I was still surprised by the reports. I’m sorry. I know I must have given you a hard time over some of your decisions, but ultimately it wasn’t all you. Other parties were involved. You’re pressured by the UN, the council, and Morrison. I’m the one who has done everything that’s been asked of me. I’m the only one to blame for my poor decisions.” Ziegler dropped his eyes. He was a dove holding out a tentative olive branch when Reyes already knew where the land lay.

Reyes let a dramatic pause build just to see if Ziegler would look up.

The younger man squirmed in his seat but didn’t look back at Reyes. Stubborn. That’s why Reyes liked working with him. 

“Is that it?” Reyes asked, looking over his shoulder as he poured his kettle out into two plain white mugs. He rummaged through his desk drawers until he found his favorite canister of tea and plopped two bags into the boiling water.

“What do you mean ‘is that it’?” Ziegler finally looked at Reyes, frowning in confusion. 

“If you really thought I was a monster I doubt you would have invited me to your Christmas party, Angelo.” Reyes chuckled. 

“You’re impossible!” Ziegler stood up and started for the door before he turned swiftly and came pacing back. “I come here to apologize to you and you make fun of me.”

Reyes decided to stop playing with the younger man. “There’s nothing to apologize for, Ziegler. We’re two sides of the same coin: you keep people alive and I kill them. I don’t expect you to agree with everything I do.”

A slew of rapid fire expressions flickered over Ziegler’s face. Confusion. Anger. Relief. Frustration.

He shook his head. “It’s more than that. Listen.”

Reyes waited for Ziegler to say something more. When he didn’t, Reyes opened his mouth and was hushed immediately.

“No, listen.” Ziegler waved a hand. “I’ve corresponded with world class surgeons and scientists the world over, attended medical conferences and given guest lectures at all the top universities in the world. I know what my accomplishments mean to the global medical community. My teams and I have radically altered how nanosurgery is conducted. I’ve pushed the boundaries of what we thought was possible.”

“And you’re humble too,” Reyes couldn’t help but get in a little dig.

Ziegler shot him a half-hearted glare before moving on. “Yet most of the time nobody expects me to look the way I do. I’ve been turned away before giving lectures because security did not believe I was me. I know it’s not just my age. I know when some people look at me they see a thug with white hair, not an esteemed doctor and bioengineer. The world hasn’t forgotten its old prejudices so easily just because it created new ones for itself.”

“How much sugar do you take in your tea?” Reyes asked.

“How much—” Ziegler let his arms drop limply to his sides. “ _How much sugar do I take in my tea?_ Are you even listening to me?”

Reyes refused to talk until Ziegler took his drink. He just insistently kept holding out the mug closer and closer to Ziegler’s face.

“Sure, I hear you,” he said with a shrug, “But I don’t see why you need to apologize to me. I mean, I’ll accept it if that makes you feel better, but we’ve all got shit we’ve got to work through, kid. I’m honored you came to me with this; don’t get me wrong. Your honesty is adorable. I’ve just never been offended by you. I enjoy our debates.”

Ziegler pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know why I even bother.”

Reyes heaped five spoonfuls of sugar into his own tea and pretended he didn’t see Ziegler’s look of horror. “Tell me how your crochet project is going. Did you figure out the pattern?”


End file.
